In 2021, stock shortages and new lockdowns caused havoc on Australian new car sales, after an equally eventful 2020. Here are some of the brands and models that managed to shine through – and some that didn’t.
After much of 2020 was ravaged by the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, new-car sales initially began to bounce back in the early months of 2021 – before further lockdowns and severe supply shortages saw monthly VFACTS sales results drop to their lowest since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
With sales data for 2021 now public – click here to read Drive’s full breakdown of December and full-year 2021 sales – a number of vehicles have enjoyed significant increases in sales, due to the arrival of new models, a growing brand, or strong supply amid semiconductor shortages.
Other brands and models, meanwhile, have suffered from sales declines. Here’s a look at some of the sales ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ of the Australian new-car market in 2021.
Winners: Chinese brands
Continuing a trend seen over the last two years, sales of Chinese car brands increased significantly during 2021.
MG led the way, with its recorded sales figure of 39,025 vehicles for 2021 – a 155.9 per cent increase over its 2020 sales performance – making it the only Chinese brand to break into the Top 10 for the entire year, with a ninth-placed finish.
Closing the gap is GWM Haval, with 18,384 recorded sales – an increase of 251.2 per cent compared to last year, thanks to three all-new models – and LDV, which reported 15,188 vehicles as sold, up 62.9 per cent compared to 2020 results.
The MG 3 and MG ZS topped the ‘light car under $25,000’ and ‘small SUV under $40,000’ sales categories, while in December 2021 the GWM Ute managed to outsell the LDV T60, SsangYong Musso and Volkswagen Amarok.
Winner: Land Rover Defender
Launched locally in late 2020, the reborn Land Rover Defender has grown to become the brand’s best-selling model, with 1733 examples reported as sold throughout 2021 – outselling the Discovery, Discovery Sport and full-size Range Rover combined, and just beating the Range Rover Sport (on 1475 sales).
While sales in 2021 were up 233.9 per cent over full-year 2020 figures – albeit from a low base, given the Defender didn’t go on sale until August – only 88 examples were reported as sold in December 2021, down 47.9 per cent compared to December 2020, likely a result of stock and chip shortages.
For comparison, the wider Australian new-car market was up 14.5 per cent in 2021 (compared to the prior year), while the Defender’s large luxury SUV segment enjoyed a 16.6 per cent sales increase.
Winner: Mercedes-Benz G-Class
Another winner is the Defender’s spiritual rival, the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, sales of which have increased 120 per cent year-on-year – compared to a 9.4 per cent sales increase for the ‘upper large SUV over $100,000’ segment it competes in.
Much of that sales growth likely stems from the more affordable G400d variant introduced locally in July 2021 – the first new G-Class variant introduced in Australia since the current-generation model went on sale in 2018.
In December 2021, just 10 examples were reported as sold, compared to 64 examples in December 2020 – likely a result of Mercedes-Benz closing the order books earlier this year, as supply catches up with demand.
Winner: Nissan 370Z
Despite the arrival of a new-generation Nissan Z sports car in mid-2022, sales of the now-14-year-old 370Z increased by 138.5 per cent year-on-year in 2021 – enough to make it the year’s fourth best-selling sports car, behind the Ford Mustang (2827), Mazda MX-5 (744) and BMW 2 Series two-door (454).
The Nissan 370Z was one of just three vehicles in the ‘sports car under $80,000’ category to see a sales increase across 2021 – joining the Mazda MX-5 (up 62.8 per cent) and Mini Convertible (up 1.8 per cent) – in a sales segment down 15.4 per cent, compared to 2020 figures.
Winners: Renault and Peugeot
While Citroen, Renault and Peugeot each had a poor start to 2021 – with sales of French cars hitting new lows in May – the latter two brands surged towards the end of the year, with 7009 Renaults and 2805 Peugeots sold in total last year.
Those figures represent increases of 2.8 and 31.8 per cent respectively versus Renault and Peugeot’s 2020 sales results – the latter marque benefiting from the introduction of the second-generation 2008 small SUV in late 2020, which has grown to become Peugeot Australia’s best seller.
Meanwhile, Renault – which shifted to selling cars through independent importer Ateco in April 2021, rather than a factory-backed operation – narrowly avoided a sales decline across the full year by 195 cars, or approximately half of December’s 426-unit sales tally.
The Renault Trafic van was Australia’s best-selling French car in 2021 (with 2093 sales), followed by the Renault Koleos (1937), Renault Master (1260) and Peugeot 3008 (1172).
Loser: Ferrari
Ferrari was the only exotic sports/luxury car brand to post a sales decline, with its tally of 194 vehicles reported as sold down 5.4 per cent over 2020 figures – despite introducing the new Roma coupe and SF90 Spider hypercar, among other models.
For comparison, McLaren sales increased by 39.7 per cent to 88, while Lamborghini’s tally of 131 cars sold in 2021 is an 18 per cent increase over 2020, in an overall market up 15.4 per cent.
Loser: Ford Focus
Sales of the Ford Focus small car continued to decline in 2021, with 735 examples reported as sold by close of business on December 31 – a decrease on the 1878 sold in 2020, 3682 in 2019, and as many as 15,166 in 2014.
Now accounting for only 0.7 per cent of the ‘small car under $40,000’ segment, the Focus hatchback’s slow sales figures saw Ford Australia axe all variants bar the Focus ST hot hatch for 2022 – a few years after the Blue Oval opted to import only the ST hot hatch version of the latest Fiesta city car, upon the vehicle’s local launch in 2020.
Loser: Citroen
Whereas compatriots Peugeot and Renault enjoyed sales increases in 2021, Citroen sales declined by 13.8 per cent last year compared to 2020 results, in an overall new-car market up 14.5 per cent.
The arrival of the Citroen C4 small hatch-turned-SUV in November provided a sales boost – with 26 reported as ‘sold’ since its launch, including media evaluation vehicles which are yet to be sold to the general public – though the Citroen C3 city car still carried much of the weight, with 88 cars sold across the year (up 87.2 per cent over 2020).
This year (2022) promises to be better for the French brand, which can benefit from a full year of sales for the new C4, and will introduce the new C5 X mid-size wagon-turned-SUV early in the second half of the year.
Loser: Honda
Honda sales in Australia fell by 39.5 per cent in 2021 (compared to 2020 results), following its much-publicised switch to an ‘agency’ business model in July 2021.
The company says criticism of its new business model after only a few months in operation is “premature”– though Honda sales in Australia were already in decline prior to the switch, with the company selling 33.8 per cent fewer cars in the first three months of 2021 than it did across the same period in 2020 (6683 vs 10,102).
The Honda CR-V mid-size SUV topped the Japanese car maker’s sales charts in 2021 – partly due to the Civic small car and HR-V small SUV being in runout, ahead of new models launched (or due to launch) in December 2021 and April 2022 respectively.
VFACTS sales data reports 83 Honda Civics as sold in December 2021 – expected to be comprised largely of new-generation Civic hatchbacks, following the model’s arrival in showrooms on December 6.
The post VFACTS 2021 new-car sales: Winners and losers appeared first on Drive.
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